Cleaning CCleaner

[pwillener]

For some reason I don't remember, I went to look at the CCleaner install folder today. To my surprise I found lots of old DLL files in there, e.g. a dozen lang-XXXX.dll files from 2004, and several others from 2005 and 2006.

 

My guess is that they are leftovers from all the upgrades I did since CCleaner 1.00

 

So I exported all my settings and uninstalled/reinstalled CCleaner. Now I have only 3 files (including winapp2.ini) in the CCleaner folder.

 

Very nice; very clean! I wish that CCleaner could have done this by itself...

[Nergal]

how would you propose that ccleaner knows what language files it should clean (remember before you answer that many people run multilang in ccleaner )

 

I just delete (on my non-test machine) the language folder at (or before with portable) install

[Augeas]

I think that PW means that any old language dlls are not removed from the lang folder in subsequent installs, so obsolete entries can remain.

 

I have this folder in my include list, so I don't get this problem. Perhaps the lang files haven't changed much in recent years. I'm not sure whether it's worth writing code to wipe this folder on installs.

[pwillener]

Actually the lang and other DLL files were in the CCleaner main folder, not in the lang subfolder - I think this is where they went in the earlier CCleaner versions. I don't mind having all the (new) lang DLLs in the lang folder; I just wasn't sure why there were duplicate lang files (from 2004) in the main folder.

 

The uninstaller, however, deleted all of them, and only left the winapp2.ini file.

[Andavari]

I always nuke the whole lang folder using a batch file.

[tomn]

Actually the lang and other DLL files were in the CCleaner main folder, not in the lang subfolder - I think this is where they went in the earlier CCleaner versions. I don't mind having all the (new) lang DLLs in the lang folder; I just wasn't sure why there were duplicate lang files (from 2004) in the main folder.

 

The uninstaller, however, deleted all of them, and only left the winapp2.ini file.

 

Forgive me but I am confused here. In my main CCleaner folder (C:Program files\CCleaner) it contains a subfolder for Language DLL's, CCleaner application file and an Install/Uninstall app.file, nothing else. What might be putting those DLL files into your main CCleaner folder instead of your Language subfolder? Is this still happening with current installs of newer versions or was this related to older versions writing them this way?

[spelbynder]

As someone who tends to do a complete format and reinstallation of Windows every 30-60 days, I find it hard to believe that you've (apparently) had the same installation in place since CCleaner 1.0 ..... even if you don't do a lot of installing/uninstalling of software like I do, it would still be beneficial to create a fresh Windows installation at least once a year, I'm thinking.

[pwillener]

In my main CCleaner folder (C:Program files\CCleaner) it contains a subfolder for Language DLL's, CCleaner application file and an Install/Uninstall app.file, nothing else. What might be putting those DLL files into your main CCleaner folder instead of your Language subfolder?

The lang subfolder does contain all the lang DLLs. The ones in the main CCleaner folder were probably leftovers from CCleaner 1.0

[pwillener]

As someone who tends to do a complete format and reinstallation of Windows every 30-60 days...

WOW - why would you do that...?

 

I remember well that Win 9x needed regular reinstalls or at least repair installs every few months. But there is absolutely no need for that on modern NT-based Windows systems.

 

I have never reinstalled any of my Windows 2000 or XP systems. Why would I?

 

Both 2000 and XP run a lot better than after the initial install. This is because I have tweaked and optimized the systems over the years. All that (and all installed programs) would be lost if I did a reinstall.

 

Anyway, I am curious why you reinstall Windows on a regular basis?

[Andavari]

I remember well that Win 9x needed regular reinstalls or at least repair installs every few months.

Yeah Win98 in particular had OS rot issues with vxd errors would crop up after a few months forcing a format and reinstall which was why using VXD Bug Fix was wise immediately after a fresh install.

[Eastman]

I found the same ... a number of obsolete files in ../CCleaner ... which were gone after the re-install. The ../CCleaner/Lang/ files are still there

[Dave Lister]

Anyway, I am curious why you reinstall Windows on a regular basis?

I do it about every 6 months. It's just a personal preference. I like cleaning out all the "ghosts" and "boogers" that accumulate from various sites and installs that never really delete. I save all the files I've collected to CD or DVD, then run DBAN to completely wipe the drive before re-installing the OS. As far as "tweaks", I've got all of my tweaks and notes on one CD that goes in right after the driver disc...so, re-tweaking to where I was before I started doesn't take long at all. (As a matter of fact, I'm here today because I just did a fresh re-install and need current versions of CCleaner and Speccy. ) Anyway, like I said, for me, it's a personal preference.

 

Still...it never fails...every time I do this, it feels like I've got a brand new computer without actually buying one.